Display rack



June 6, 1961 H. J. SMITH DISPLAY RACK Filed March 21, 1958 INVENTOR Harvey J. Smith ATTORNEY q "a on United States. Patent 2,987,195 DISPLAY RACK Harvey J. Smith, Greensboro, N.C., assignor to Modern Metal Products Company, a corporation of North Carolina Filed Mar. 21, 1958, Ser. No. 722,966 3 Claims. (Cl. 211-175) The present invention relates to a display rack and relates more particularly to an extensible rack for attractively displaying and supporting various packaged articles and merchandise for making the merchandise readily accessible for customers particularly in self-service markets.

The modern trend in merchandising being directed to self-service, many articles and commodities, such as, hosiery, gloves, hardware items, soft goods and many numerous other articles not heretofore packaged, are now readily available in packages and are being sold in chain grocery and drug stores. Frequently a display rack or stand is placed in an inconspicuous corner in a store as it is cumbersome and occupies considerable floor area. With increased volume of sales, a small stand, rack or cabinet will eventually become inadequate and will have to be discarded for a larger unit so that more merchandise may be displayed without increasing the frequency of replenishing the rack. Oftentimes the rack initially installed on a location becomes inadequate for the increased volume of sales and must be discarded for a larger unit.

Therefore, it is an objective of this invention to provide a rack for .attractively displaying packaged merchandise at different levels for use in self-service markets.

Still another objective of this invention is to furnish a display stand in which the goods to be merchandised may be supported at various levels by means of standard supporting hooks or other means.

A further object of this invention is to provide a compact rack for various and sundry articles for use in selfservice stores in which the rack may be extended to accommodate more merchandise without necessitating disassembling the entire rack.

Another object of this invention is to provide a display rack in which the side walls may be displaced laterally to increase the display and merchandising area by telescopically extending the article-supporting members.

Further objects of this invention are to provide a compact, sturdy display rack in which the horizontal merchandise-supporting rails may be vertically adjusted and horizontally extended.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this novel display rack will become more readily apparent to those skilled in this art as the invention becomes better understood from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the display rack of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial transverse sectional view taken substantially along the plane of section line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken substantially along the plane of section line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a telescoping merchandise supporting rail;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a tag holder supported within a compartment at the base of the rack; and

FIG. 6 is a greatly reduced front elevational view of the display rack of FIG. 1 shown in extended condition.

Referring to the drawing and particularly to FIG. 1 there is illustrated a rack for displaying articles of mer- 2,987,195 Patented June 6, 1961 chandise of various kinds sold in self-service markets and in which sidewalls 10, preferably sheet metal, are trapezoidally-shaped with the upwardly sloping sides 11 having inturned flanges 12 and inturned base edge 13. On the interior of each sidewall and adjacent to the base is a sheet metal plate 14 which extends between flanges and fastened thereto as by welding to form a storage compartment 15 with the lower portion of the sidewall interior.

A vertical post member 16, preferably in the form of a channel iron with the web 17 fastened to the sidewall interior as by welding, is located so as to perpendicularly bisect the sidewall. The channel iron flanges 18 are provided with series of openings 19 at selected intervals for a purpose to be described hereinafter. Although the post members 16 are shown as continuous for the vertical height of the sidewall short sections may be employed as well as individual brackets in place of the elongated post members.

Reaching horizontally between the sidewalls 10 are a number of article-supporting rail members 20 which are each formed of at least two telescopically nestable U- shaped channel members 21 and 22. The terminal ends 23 and 24 of the rail members 20 may be fastened as by bolts 25 or other suitable means to the vertical post members 16 at any suitable opening 19. While the rail members 20 are shown as open channels nestable square tubing as Well as inturned flanged channels and other extendible types of structural members may be employed.

The individual extensible horizontal rail members 20 are provided with openings 26 which are uniformly spaced along the rail members to releasably receive suitable article hangers 27 of a conventional type therein. In the type hanger shown the projecting upturned rod portion 28 is provided with a rail contacting stabilizing tab 29 and a transverse U-shaped portion 30 having upturned openingengaging lugs 31 welded to the rod portion 28. The hanger 27 is inserted by means of the lugs 31 into the suitably spaced-apart openings 26 in the rail and will remain in position to receive bags 32 or other articles thereon on the rod portion.

At the top of the stand a sign 33 for advertising is supported by means of the Z-shaped brackets 34 fastened to the uppermost rail member by suitable fastening means. A storage receptacle 35 for tape or labels is retained on the panel 14 in the compartment 15. Frequently bags may be torn from the hangers and by means of tape or replacement tabs having a hanger opening the bag may be replaced on the hanger by service personnel.

Initially when the stand is installed on location in a market the sidewalls 10 are placed close to each other thereby introducing the channel member 22 into the member 21. Suitable bolts 36 may be employed to fasten the channel members to eliminate relative displacement of the members. As additional display area is required for more merchandise the sidewalls may be spread apart or displaced laterally with respect to each other thereby exposing the member 22 in greater length to the requisite limit. It will be readily apparent that within the limits of a sturdy stand for supporting the articles the telescoping rail members may consist of more than two telescoping members. It is preferred that when the required width between sidewalls is reached the rail members are fastened by means of bolts 36.

Obviously, many modifications may be made to the telescoping article supporting rails, the sidewalls and the other elements for providing an adjustable width display rack without departing from the spirit of this invention and it is contemplated that many modifications and variations may be made as well as the use of equivalent structures all within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A display rack for merchandise comprising a pair of trapezoidal-shaped sheet metal side walls having inturned edge flanges, a compartment at the base of each of said side walls, said side walls having an exterior and interior surface, and said side walls being spaced laterally from each other with the interior surfaces facing each other, a channel post having selectively spaced openings vertically supported against the interior surface of and perpendicularly bisecting each of the side walls, a plurality of horizontally reaching nestable telescoping channel members spaced vertically from each other, and releasably fastened at the terminal ends thereof to the channel posts at selected vertical intervals, and a plurality of article hangers releasably supported on each of said horizontal members.

2. A display rack for merchandise comprising a pair of trapezoidal-shaped sheet metal side walls having inturned edge flanges, said side walls having an exterior and an interior surface, said side walls being spaced laterally from each other with the interior surfaces facing each other, a channel post having selectively spaced openings vertically supported against the interior surface of and perpendicularly bisecting each of the side walls, a

plurality of horizontally reaching nestable telescoping 5 members spaced vertically from each other and releasably fastened at the terminal ends thereof to the channel posts at selected vertical intervals, and a plurality of article 4 hangers releasably supported on each of said horizontal members.

3. A stand for displaying packaged articles and the like comprising a pair of vertical side walls, a storage compartment having a plate in spaced relation to one of said side walls at the base thereof, a vertical channel post affixed to each of said side walls, said vertical channel posts having vertically spaced openings therein, a plurality of telescopically nestable members reaching horizontally between said vertical channel posts and fastened within said spaced openings at the terminal ends thereof, said horizontal members being arranged in vertical alignment, and means supported on said nestable members for supporting articles thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 580,655 Thew Apr. 13, 1897 764,343 Bowen July 5, 1904 869,491 Hurteau Oct. 29, 1907 2,056,544 Vanderveld Oct. 6, 1936 2,066,478 Lewin Jan. 5, 1937 2,110,158 Keeler Mar. 8, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 648,451 Great Britain of 1951 

